The present invention relates to nano-manufacturing technology solutions involving equipment, processes, and materials used in the deposition, patterning, and treatment of thin-films and coatings, with representative examples including (but not limited to) applications involving: semiconductor and dielectric materials and devices, silicon-based wafers, flat panel displays (such as TFTs), masks and filters, energy conversion and storage (such as photovoltaic cells, fuel cells, and batteries), solid state lighting (such as LEDs and OLEDs), magnetic and optical storage, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS), micro-optic and optoelectronic devices, architectural and automotive glasses, metallization systems for metal and polymer foils and packaging, and micro- and nano-molding. More particularly, the invention relates to the application of thin films onto a surface. Even more particularly, the invention relates a method of formation of high density thin films by chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”).
Conventional thermal CVD processes supply reactive gases to the substrate surface where the heat from the surface induces chemical reactions to produce a film. Improvements in deposition rate and film properties have been achieved through the use of plasma sources to assist the chemical reactions. Plasma enhanced CVD (“PECVD”) techniques promote excitation, dissociation, and ionization of the reactant gases by the application of radio frequency (“RF”) energy to a reaction zone near the substrate surface, thereby creating a plasma. The high reactivity of the species in the plasma reduces the energy required to activate a chemical reaction. This effectively lowers the substrate temperature required for PECVD processes as compared to conventional thermal CVD processes. Reducing the substrate temperature is attractive because it lowers the chances of diffusion or other mass transport effects which may cause a reduction in the yield of the manufacturing process.
Further improvements have been enabled by high density plasma (“HDP”) CVD techniques, in which a dense plasma is formed at low vacuum pressures so that the plasma species are even more reactive. HDP-CVD allows the use of lower partial pressures of reactant gases while maintaining a higher ionic concentration. HDP-CVD also allows the accelerating energy to be controlled independently of the ionization energy. There are a number of material changes that result from depositing films with a high density plasma in addition to distinctions associated with patterned wafer processing. When films are deposited with HDP-CVD method the resultant film may possess a higher density than other CVD methods. Denser films can be attractive as they may exhibit greater homogeneity and can be used more effectively as an etch or polishing stop layer.
A material commonly used in the fabrication of integrated devices is silicon nitride. Two common applications for silicon nitride films in the front end processing of integrated circuits include the formation of spacer structures around delicate integrated devices and the formation of contact etch stop layers, such as the barrier layer between premetal dielectric layer and the semiconductor substrate. When used as an etch stop layer, the ability of the film to exhibit a low wet etch rate “WER” during a silicon oxide etch process is desirable.
The presence of impurities within a silicon nitride film often correlates with a higher etch rate and decreased utility as an etch stop. One impurity which incorporates easily into a growing silicon nitride film is hydrogen. Growing silicon nitride with conventional thermal CVD methods has succeeded in reducing the hydrogen content to below ten percent, however, the substrate temperatures for chemical vapor deposition are in the range of 700° C. to 1000° C. The higher temperatures can degrade and even ruin material properties and devices built in earlier processing steps.
There accordingly remains a general need in the art for a method of depositing low WER silicon nitride films on substrates at reduced deposition temperatures.